


neither of us will be missed

by DragonHall



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Cults, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Nonbinary Chara (Undertale), Nonbinary Frisk (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:46:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22052740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonHall/pseuds/DragonHall
Summary: Chara doesn't talk about what their life was like before, but they do remember. Sometimes they dream about it.
Kudos: 8





	neither of us will be missed

"Hey, are you asleep yet?", the ghost whispered, looking at where they thought their newest friend must be resting in the dimly blue lit grass.

They didn't receive an answer. "You know", they continued speaking, not sure if they even wanted Frisk to hear them, "it's weird enough that you kinda look like me. But the fact that we both have the same soul color?"

Chara turned around to their side, propping up their head on one hand. If this kid wasn't the same as them, there was no way Chara would ever reveal that their own soul was red with Determination as well. And not just tinted red - it was pure. Too bad it wasn't a good soul trait.

"You're from _there_ too, aren't you?"

Remembering the place they grew up, Chara turned on their back again.

"Does it still suck? I mean, it has to, considering you ran away too… I don't even know how long I've been dead. But I don't think they're gonna change their whole hierarchy anytime soon. I bet they still have the same school house for the pure souls!", they said slightly louder than they had intended.

Chara laughed quietly at the memory: holding somebody's hand as their parents' oldest child was dropped off at that school. After their older sibling left, they hadn't been allowed near the school again - it was no place for somebody so tainted with Determination. No place for a traitor.

"Do you know the legend of the Mages, too? I was taught that before I ran away. They told it a lot, really. I think I could still recite the version they told word for word." They laughed, short and bitter. "But that's bullshit, anyway. The Red Mage wasn't a traitor after all! The monsters told me. The Red Mage is the only reason either of us are here!"

They still remembered that time, when they were young and still allowed to play with other kids, and they reenacted the legend together. Chara had had to play the Traitor, of course.

The playing had ended when their friend with the red hair and light blue soul pretended to stab them with their own toy knife. They never got that knife back - but they knew Frisk had it now. They'd told the younger kid to pick it up and keep it safe.

Their thoughts drifted to other things kids had brought here, other kids that had been here. And as their thoughts drifted, they slowly fell asleep.

When they opened their eyes, they blinked into the darkness. No more soft blue lighting - it was just dark, now.

The first thing Chara saw as their eyes adjusted was a pair of ballet shoes hanging off the bedpost, then, eventually, they could see the second bed on the other side of the room. _Oh great_ , they thought, and pulled their legs out from under the thin, ratty blanket. They shivered as their naked feet touched the ground.

Carefully, they tip-toed across the room, making sure to avoid the floorboards they knew would creak.

Their younger sibling’s eyes were closed, but they knew that if they had been open, they would’ve appeared as a strong dark blue - even in the near darkness. Chara closed their own eyes, red in contrast, and sighed.

 _If their soul doesn’t get impure, at least one child in this family won’t have been a disappointment_ , they thought, letting go of the bed’s headboard.

The room was bathed in soft blue light, now, and Chara knew it meant they only had a few hours before the adults would be getting up.

They cautiously walked over to the room’s door, making sure to only open it enough to slip out - almost anything in this house would creak if you didn’t know how to avoid it. But Chara knew how to avoid it _very well._ They’d had enough time to learn, after all, as well as an older sibling to learn from.

That sibling had been gone for two years now, and if Chara was right about the date, it was exactly two years on the day.

Things hadn’t been good before, but they certainly hadn’t gotten any better since.

Suddenly aware they were in the kitchen, now, Chara jolted from their thoughts. They saw the calendar on the wall ahead of them and felt panic creep its way into their mind.

Immediately, they turned around and and went back to their room, caring just a bit less about making noise, now. They had to be fast about this - the sun was rising quickly, and if they didn’t make it in time, they wouldn’t get another chance soon.

Pulling a sweater from under their bed, they mentally listed what they had been able to aquire and hide from the adults. It wasn’t much: an extra sweater, a good pair of shoes, some chocolate. They put on the green sweater over the t-shirt they were already wearing and slipped on the shoes. The chocolate went in their pocket, since they hadn’t been able to get their hands on a bag.

Chara made their way to the house’s front door, but reconsidered at the last second, heading to the kitchen instead. They grabbed a knife, telling themself it was _just in case anything went wrong._ After all, they knew where they were headed, but they didn’t really know what to expect there. Nobody had ever come back to tell stories of it.

As they opened the front door, they saw the sun had not yet risen fully - they were still early enough to escape without any of their neighbours seeing them. The decorations for today’s festival were up already, and together with the morning light, it just made the village look more eerie than it did anyway.

People would be celebrating today, but if Chara were to stay, it would not be a happy day for them, they knew that much.

And so, taking one last deep breath, they started their first ever journey outside the village they had been born, raised, and hated in - towards the mountain sitting in the distance.

They opened their eyes, and still, everything was bathed in soft blue light - but this light made them feel calm and at home, not afraid like the morning light had.

Chara blinked up at the figure over them.

“Oh, hey, Frisk… you wanna keep going?”, they yawned, bringing their hands up to their face.

The younger child only nodded.

Chara smiled at them timidly. “Got it. And thanks for waking me up.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is really just a small personal thing, but i wanted to post something before 201X is over, so i hope somebody out there enjoys reading it!


End file.
